


Possibly Not A Wallflower

by H_Black



Category: James Bond - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: May Have Fudged The Timeline A Bit, Not Canon Compliant, also no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-07-29 02:08:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16254512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H_Black/pseuds/H_Black
Summary: What if Tony Stark had a younger sister? What if she wasn't what she appeared to be?Is technically a plot-bunny but may get longer....





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Something short that wouldn't leave me alone until published. First published story. Not beta'd. Disclaimer: I own nothing!!

As she walked back to the lab, she wrapped her cardigan tightly around her and pretended to shudder at the cold. Bruce looked up and smiled sympathetically before carrying on with his work.  
"Tea, Bruce?" She asked with a wide smile," I could murder a cuppa."  
"Hmm... Yeah sounds good", he muttered absentmindedly as he placed the test tube into the centrifuge.  
"English breakfast or green?” She replied having caught the muttered words.  
"Green."  
"I still don't know how you can drink that," she laughed. "It's awful."  
"I still don't know how you're an American," he quipped in reply. "Shouldn't you drink coffee instead of tea?"  
"Ugh, don't that stuff is awful and how Tony drinks it I will never know. He practically lives off the stuff, and as for American I spent a good 15 years in England and was partly raised by Peggy, tea is nearly half my diet. I can't function without it, and God doesn't that make me as bad as Tony." Another laugh passes her lips as she states; "Maybe it's genetic!"  
Bruce gives a small chuckle at the exclamation, that's about the only similarity you have to your brother barring intelligence and hair colour he thinks.  
And it was true, Alexandria Stark was Tony's complete opposite. A slender woman with the trademark Stark dark hair and high IQ, startling blue eyes hidden behind black rimmed glasses. Lexi was quiet, shy and amazingly enough for being a Stark, completely normal. Not a superhero or a celebrity, she shied away from the spot light and having been raised mostly by her godmother Peggy Carter from a young age it was no wonder she was so different. The only reason she had moved to New York at all, after living in and around London for the last 15 years, was to help Pepper and Tony with Stark Industries given that Iron Man was now a key part of the Avengers.

The computer at Bruce's station beeped drawing him out of his thoughts. A quick glance at the data, he printed it off and was out of the lab at speed; "Tea later yeah Lexi? This is important" he said waving the paper.  
She laughed as he left, of course it was, not that she minded; putting up a friendly false front for the last 6 months she had been in New York was slowly killing her inside. She was desperate for something to happen, for her to finally get involved in the action again. Oh well, she had every intention of returning to London once her year in New York was up. She would help the company and then leave; the action would have to wait until then. For now, she was Lexi Stark, the meek mild scientist sister to Tony; and God wouldn't the London lot laugh if they saw her now. She sighed as she watched the view through the lab's window. The sun setting on another day in New York.  
"Put it all in standby mode, J. I've done enough for today."  
"Of course, Miss" the AI, JARVIS replied.  
The lights of the lab blinked out as she stepped into the elevator to go to the main floor.  
..........

"Status report Agent Romanoff." Fury commanded as he continued to view the files on his computer.  
In front of his desk Natasha Romanoff stood to attention composing her thoughts on what she was going to say to her superior.  
"Alexandria Stark is determined as no threat sir, she's intelligent yes and clearly running the R & D department of Stark Industries while her brother focuses on other issues but other than that she's a non-entity. It took me a while to establish this because she's so different in personality from Stark and being raised mainly by Director Carter I would have thought she would be more of a threat but after 6 months of watching her every move it's clear to see that Miss Stark has been kept away from every influence but academia. She's a wallflower, sir. She researches and designs what her brother and Miss Potts want her to and continues happily following their orders."  
"Huh." Fury replies finally looking up from the computer screen to take in the appearance of his agent. "A Stark who’s a non-entity, who would have thought. Clearly Howard's attempt to protect his daughter from the world succeeded. Maybe a bit too well given she's a genius but without a creative streak. A follower not a leader. Well, that's helpful at least; one less person in that damn tower to not keep a constant watch on. I'm lowering Miss Stark's security to level 2, we can't completely write her off due to her intelligence and relationship to Iron Man. But she's certainly not a threat on her own; and returning to England in less than 6 months if I remember correctly."  
"Yes sir," Romanoff replies concisely. "Her agreement with her brother was to help for a year while he found his feet dealing with the Avengers and then she could return to her research position at the Queen Mary's University in London."  
"A shy academic, hell of a surprise for a Stark, even if she was the illegitimate child Howard was desperate to hide from the public. You're relieved Romanoff, get back to the tower."  
Finally dismissed after a ten-hour training session, a psych assessment and then this debriefing Natasha was beginning to wonder if she'd ever get to use the huge bathtub that was waiting in her suite in Stark Tower.

...........

The tower was peaceful as the amber July sun set over New York. The Avengers were nowhere to be seen, having left to answer a mayday call, as Pepper and Lexi sat on Tony’s private terrace overlooking the city's skyline.  
But the ding and then swoosh of the elevator arriving at the main floor soon had Lexi frowning and turning her head. JARVIS hadn’t announced anyone coming up so who… shit!  
Lexi quickly stood up nearly knocking her chair to the floor in the process. With a quick glance back at the opening elevator doors she was dragging Pepper by the arm, out of sight of the elevator and its occupants and towards the platform that held the Iron Man suits. It was too late however, as the moment the pair reached the steps up to the suits they were facing the end of a gun.

"Ah, ah, ah ladies. We would want you getting away now, would we." The British accent was distinct and he was clearly the leader of the group that had enter the floor from the elevator, as he directed the other 4 men with abrupt hand signals to spread out across the floor.

Lexi's mind whirled at the scene before her, taking in all the details and searching for possible escape plans. But it didn't look good. Alone Lexi had no doubt that she could escape without injury but factoring in Pepper meant that none of her options were viable, at least not without revealing something she shouldn't. They were stuck, the only silver lining to this whole debacle was that the man in charge of the group had shown no hint of knowing who she was, in fact he was mainly focused on Pepper. She was not only being overlooked but underestimated and he was not connected to her normal employment. Thank God!!  
Lexi just had to wait and see what happened now and hopefully not blow her cover. Alec and James were never going to stop teasing her about this, taken hostage and not being allowed to do anything about it. Ugh.. at least she was discretely armed (thank you paranoia) while she was forced to kneel and wait for the Avengers to arrive. Despite not having managed to get Pepper out, she had thankfully set off the remote alarm on her phone before it was confiscated. Her brother should be well aware there was a problem at the tower by now.

..........

30 minutes later and her emergency alarm did not yield the rescue she had hoped for. Jane and Darcy had been dragged from the Astrophysics lab (the first floor of the private part of Stark Tower- where the Avengers and co resided) to Tony’s penthouse floor and joined Pepper and Lexi as damsels in distress. The Avengers were still a no show and the leader of the band of thugs that had invaded the tower had lost his temper when it became apparent that he couldn't get the information he was looking for out of the computers in the tower without the system being unlocked first- a side effect of the alarm Lexi had set off.

"Now," he said his voice taking a more menacing tone. "Which of you lovely ladies are going to give me access to the information I need." He turned the nearest computer screen to Pepper and gesture at her to move from where she was kneeling in the middle of the room, hands tied behind her back alongside Jane, Darcy and Lexi.

At this statement Pepper snorted, "You have no chance on that as the only person capable of accessing those specific files is Tony. And he's clearly not here or ever going to do that."

The head thug glared at her and then inclined his head. Suddenly Pepper was on the floor having been violently knocked from her position kneeling, her zip tied hands leaving her unable to catch herself. She hit the floor with a loud thud, a livid red mark blossoming on her cheek from where she'd been hit by one of the henchmen.  
"Do not test me love," came the leaders voice, the edge in his voice sending chills up the spines of the hostages. "Or next time I'll put a bullet in someone's skull."

Pepper had begun to cry silently, the tears starting to slide down her injured cheek. "I don't know the access codes," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"What a shame," came the cold reply. The man walked towards the kneeling group of women lifting his gun as he moved forward. He came to a stop in front of Lexi and put the barrel of the gun to her forehead.

"The codes Ms. Potts. Now."

Lexi breathed in slowly, taking in the man in front of her. Her eyes closed, she was well aware that Pepper didn't have the codes, but rather than focusing on that she was slowly shifting her body weight to make it easier for her to move. Eyes shut she pictured the room and its occupants, their positioning, what weapons they were carrying. Every last detail she had observed from the moment the group had exited the elevator, all included in her mental map of the room. She was still armed (only having been quickly searched and made to hand over her phone), she wasn’t bound (the ties hand been child’s play to break without anyone noticing) and she had home turf advantage. The plan was set.  
A deep breath and then … she moved.


	2. Best friends laugh first, then help.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath... kinda.

"Q, please stop laughing! Seriously it's been 5 minutes now." She sighs, then begins to giggle quietly herself. Truth is it is funny, and watching her friend break his stiff façade to laugh so earnestly at her misfortune is worth it. He so rarely laughs these days and as long as he keeps said incident to himself- if not - well, she's more than capable of restarting that prank war- no matter what M said, it's not as if she's alive to follow through with said threat anymore. Mallory probably wouldn't know what hit him if it did restart. Poor sod!

"I just...It...I..." Q lets out another loud snort and finally composes himself, cleaning off his glasses and replacing them on his face.

"I know," she replies amused. "I'm beginning to think that I'm cursed or something! Maybe the bad luck is genetic? It sure as hell follows Tony around."

"Really." And there it is the stern Quartermaster voice- with just a hint of her mischievous best friend underneath. “Don’t be ridiculous- this wasn’t even your problem. It was your brother’s system that was the target after all. I’ve run your so called “Stereotype Brit Bad Guy” through the systems and he hasn’t thrown up any red flags -as such. Just the usual background for mid-level thug- as you call it. Nowhere near 6’s radar.”

“That’s good to know, Q. I hadn’t clocked them as anyone I knew but the confirmation is a relief really.” And it was. While her time in New York was grating on her nerves, far more than she had believed it would, the idea that her real job would follow her to NYC had been an underlying worry. She was after all trying to keep both lives and identities separate.

“Hmm and I’m sure your brother’s fantastic timing is a relief as well. As capable as you are, I know you don’t want anyone to know what your real job is- and exactly what skills it entails.”

“I know, I know… I’ve complained enough to you Q that you know I’m bored stiff here- but a reveal like that is certainly not something I want to happen. My relationship with Tony is strained enough!”

“Hmm maybe he’ll ease up now you’ve been held at gunpoint.” Q said with a smirk.

“Sod off Quartermaster! It wasn’t exactly a new experience even if Iron Man flying through the window at the last minute to ‘save me’ was. It not even like Tony has any idea of that- I’m almost tempted to use the experience to get me the hell out of dodge and back to London. I know Jane Foster and her little underling are headed that way after: ‘such a ‘traumatic experience’ where they were supposed to be safe!’”

That was far crueller for Lexi to state than usual and she acknowledged that the past 6 months had run roughshod over her normal cool demeanour. To be honest with herself that was far bitchier than they deserved. Jane and Darcy were civilians and Stark Tower was supposed to be safe- even if the Avengers living there painted a big-ass bullseye on the building.

“Do reign in the sarcasm.” Q said far more amused than he should be, he was aware that maintain her cover was wearing Lexi’s temper thin and blowing off steam with him was far safer than it seeping into everyday life and blowing her cover story.

“Sorry, Q. But if anyone mentions therapists to me again and recovering from something so traumatic. I might decide to pack this all in and run back to London- I know Tony asked me to help with Stark Industries and doing so is suring up my civilian cover story. But its more than a little bit obvious Pepper is the one who manipulated him into asking in the first place. He looks at me like a dog that pee’d on the carpet when he thinks I’m not looking and his so-called civil interactions with me could use some serious work!”

At 25 years old, Alexandria Stark was to Tony not only his younger half-sister but proof that Howard had been unfaithful to his wife. He had never been warm to her especially as she hadn’t been raised with him. Howard had been desperate to hide her from the press and succeeded in doing so- right up to and past his and his wife Maria’s deaths when she was 4. She had lived with her mother in various places until she was 10 and when her mother died and left her an orphan, Peggy Carter had stepped in. If you could call boarding school in England ‘stepping in’, not that anyone was aware that was the only role she had played in Lexi’s life- most believed she had been more involved.

From then on England had been home, her whole life was there and what little contact she had from Tony had been presents bought by his assistants for birthdays and Christmas, the odd phone call or email and when pushed dinner in London when he was there on business. The man had no idea who she was other than her assigned cover story and he really didn’t care as long as she wasn’t in his way.

She had every right to be bitter about his treatment of her- especially as most of what he believed wasn’t true- but in the end she didn’t care. She had her own life in London and the last six months had made her appreciate that more than anything. Having to hide in ‘the Great Tony Stark’s shadow’ had shown her what would have happened if Peggy hadn’t been brow beaten into placing her in an English boarding school. Her mother had thankfully had the foresight to see that sticking her daughter with people who hated her solely for who she had as a father would have slowly killed her. The arrangements she had made both in her will and with friends and colleagues gave her daughter a chance at her own life in her mother’s country of birth. Lexi was a Brit through and through and had given up her American nationality as soon as she was legally able to. That Tony didn’t even know showed exactly how much attention he paid to her – even if after his kidnapping and the reveal of Iron Man he had promised to try more. That had lasted all of six weeks and fallen to the wayside.

“Let me talk to M about it,” Q stated determinedly – snapping her out of her thoughts. Her best friend may be the head of Q branch now and technically far too busy to be handling her case (as easy as it was) personally but he was able to see this was pushing her to breaking point. “With what just happened you could reasonably extract yourself and keep your civilian cover intact. Why M had been so insistent you go in the first place I don’t know but I believe 6 months is enough. Especially given it’s starting to impact on your frame of mind.”

“Thanks Q. Try not to make it sound like I’ve lost the plot entirely when you talk to Mallory, cheers. And as for why he agreed – well a little birdy told me he wanted to split up the so-called hell raisers whilst getting a grip on his new job. Mine was just the worst ship ‘em out assignment of the lot as the rest of my fellow troublemakers got back to jolly old England over two months ago.’’

“I’d say I didn’t blame him then- knowing how problematic you lot are alone never mind together but six months is pushing it and a year is asking for you to go rogue, even if you’re the most level headed, you’re also the most dangerous.” It was a true statement and a bit of ego stroking all rolled into one from her devious Quartermaster.

“Truer words, darling.” She drawled to him. “You work on it on your end and I’ll set it up on mine. A bit demeaning really having to pretend I’m so easily affected but anything to get me back home. Bye Q, three signing out.” And with that she stood, removing the laptop from the sink and replacing it in its hiding spot in her bathroom. She made herself look as though she had been in a nice long bath, wrapped a robe around herself and sauntered out the bathroom and into the bedroom. The things she did to avoid being monitored.

“JARVIS, my sleep playlist please.” And with that she curled up on the bed, pulled up the covers and proceed to drop off.

Tomorrow was a new day, and much brighter now an end to her time in NYC was in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there is no plan for this as such... The idea just won't seem to leave me alone though.
> 
> Let me know what you think - is it worth continuing?
> 
> Thanks HB x


End file.
